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Gift Guide for the Dapper Gent

It’s Holiday Season. Which means you need to empty your wallet and buy some gifts for a bunch of people, all some of whom mean a lot to you. The key to a good gift is making it personal (aka, don’t give a tech gadget to your grandfather who still uses a fax machine).

There are tons of great gift guides out there, but we’re going to focus on a certain type of individual, the Dapper Gentleman. Whether this is you, your husband/boyfriend, son, or pop-pop, we’re hoping to give you some ideas that are a bit more original than what you’re used to. The problem with buying a gift for the DG? As a man of fine taste, he typically already owns most of what he wants. So the key is, get him something he may not know even exists! And if you’re a reader of this blog, it should go without saying: DON’T BUY HIM A TIE. A 3-month gift membership to FreshNeck will only run you $60, and he won’t resent you at every family affair when he feels forced to wear that same cheesy tie.

So without further ado, here are some of our picks for 2013 at different price points.

Brought to you by members of the Warby Parker team, Harry’s is a modern shaving line built upon quality craftsmanship and simple design (sound familiar?). Skipping the middle man (Duane Reade) gives them the ability to charge affordable prices, as their two sets (handle, 3 blades, cream), The Truman and The Winston, come in at $15 and $25, respectively.

If the man in your life lives in New York City, splurge for a gift card to Harry’s Corner Shop, a modern-day barber shop on MacDougal Street. A straight razor shave plus a haircut will run $60.

Dapper gentlemen enjoy a good cocktail, but store-bought vodka just doesn’t pass muster. We appreciate brands that put a little love into their product, and typically go with the brown stuff. Enter Caskers – which introduces you to unique, small-batch spirits that are not available at your local liquor store. They offer these rare spirits in limited quantities for a limited time (think Gilt-model), but the gifting jewel here are the Caskers Clubs, which are subscriptions to curated alcoholic goodies. Get that man in your life a yearly subscription, and “conveniently” drop by after each shipment to help him enjoy his gift.

You’ve seen the name, as we’ve pimped them out in past posts. Why the repeated love? Because it’s not often you can garner a suit that looks like it cost $1,500 for just $449. By skipping the middle men, and foregoing a retail space (and the traveling salesmen some companies use), they can pass savings onto you, the customer. We’ve personally tested the goods, and one of their suits or blazers would make a great addition to any dapper gent’s wardrobe. Any he’ll enjoy the process of creating his one-of-a-kind piece. Gift cards available in any denomination over $50, and can come as a physical card or e-gift.

This one needs little explanation. Though they seemed to get worse and worse as the sequels piled on, perhaps there is no better way to unwind and appreciate the normalcy in your life than spending 6 hours with The Wolfpack. It seems that every crew has a Phil, Stu, Doug, and Alan, but few can replicate the amazingness that is Leslie Chow.

Okay, so we like our liquor around here; who doesn’t like to kick back and throw down a couple of cold ones? But the dapper gentleman can’t be walking into a party (or even his own home) with a cardboard carton full of Bud Light. He prefers something a bit more artisinal, and should carry his booze around in style. Handmade in Oregon from leather and masonite, this carrying case is sturdy, reusable, and fashionable. It weighs just 10 oz empty, comes in three colors, and can be monogrammed!

Beards are officially “cool.” In fact, studies have found that men with beards look tougher, more aggressive and masculine and would make better romantic partners. That being said, your bear should be seen, not smelled. Keep it “fresh” with this organic wash containing aloe.

We’re beginning to feel like alcoholics. Maybe we’ve been watching too much Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire. But we’re not ashamed to proclaim, like Ron Burgundy, “I Love Scotch. Scotchy Scotch Scotch.” And if you like to imbibe the single malt like we do, then you should be doing it the proper way – with a single cube skull of ice. Not only will your onlookers thing you’re a badass, but the large surface area of the ice will keep your liquor cold, but not watered down. At this price, get a few for yourself as well.

A lifelong companion. Unconditional love. Chick magnet. Talk about the gift that keeps on giving. Obviously this isn’t for everyone (or is it?), but for the right person, you can play a part in changing their life forever, while at the same time saving an animal in need. The Humane Society estimates 6-8 million dogs and cats go through shelters every year, and that over 3 million are euthanized. A new company, PerfectPetMatch, is attempting to disrupt the industry by playing matchmaker between adopters, shelters, and the animals. Perhaps you’ll have the next Menswear Dog on your hands?

It’s getting cold, so we are all ready with our gloves and scarves. In the past, however, we were forced to risk frostbite on our fingers if we wanted to use our technology. Well these days, no self-respecting dapper gent can go too long without a selfie, so the cool cats at Glove.ly created an affordable, simple, and comfortable high-tech glove that allows you to use your touchscreen without removing the gloves or fingers. Bonus: magnets cleverly hidden under the logo keep your gloves together when you’re not wearing them so you can stop leaving them in taxis. They come in a variety of materials (including leather) and colors for both men and women.

Clearly at FreshNeck we’re all about collaborative consumption, sharing, and rentals. And we’ve often heard from our members asking why we don’t leverage our model for watches. Enter Eleven James, offering 2-month watch rentals from their awesome collection of Panerai, Rolex, Hublot, and more. They just launched, so we don’t have all of the details, but we’re pretty excited. Perhaps a collaboration is in the cards…

Have a suggestion for a gift that we missed? Let us know in the comments!